Officials are probing how a 51-year-old highway bridge came to collapse in the Italian port city of Genoa yesterday, killing at least 26 people and injuring 16 others as it sent dozens of vehicles tumbling into a heap of concrete and twisted steel.

Probe bribery claim: Bali Nine lawyer

Bribery claims around the death sentences of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan must be investigated urgently as the pair await their execution within days, their lawyer is arguing.

Muhammad Rifan, the lawyer who represented the Bali Nine pair when they were sentenced to death in 2006, has told Fairfax Media judges asked for more than $130,000 for a lighter sentence.

Mr Rifan raised the claims months ago - without putting a sum on the bribe - and the men's current lawyer, Todung Mulya Lubis, has already lodged a complaint with the judicial commission, which appears to have stalled.

Mr Lubis says the commission has an obligation to finish its probe and it's not too late to stop the firing squad, which is set for Tuesday.

"We appeal to the attorney-general, we appeal to the president in the name of due process of law, in the name of fairness and justice, not to do the executions," he said.

"This is not an act of (a) desperado, this is a demand for justice."

Mr Lubis says claims the men face execution because of a corrupt system must be urgently investigated.